Disney World is building a new form of transportation to get around its parks — here's how it will look

Concept art for Disney Skyliner, a gondola form of transportation coming to Walt Disney World, seen at Disney's Hollywood Studios.
Kirsten Acuna/INSIDER

Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, is constructing a new gondola lift system called Disney Skyliner.

The Skyliner will connect four resorts to Epcot and Disney's Hollywood Studios.

While visiting the parks this summer, INSIDER saw construction and new concept art for the transportation system at Epcot and Hollywood Studios.

INSIDER was told there is no set timeline for the opening of Disney Skyliner. Guests can most likely expect it to be done around the time Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge opens late next year at Hollywood Studios.

If you're used to taking the monorail, ferry boats, or buses while visiting Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, get ready for a new form of transportation at the parks.

A lot of construction is currently going on at Disney's Hollywood Studios and Epcot to bring a gondola lift system to the sky.

Disney first announced the gondola system in summer 2017. Since then, we haven't heard much more about the project. Here's what I learned and saw while visiting the parks this summer for the opening of Toy Story Land.

It's called the Disney Skyliner and will connect four resorts to Disney theme parks

Fences lining the entrance of Disney's Hollywood Studios show off concept art for the finished Skyliner project. Kirsten Acuna/INSIDER

The Skyliner was announced at Disney's D23 event in July 2017. INSIDER was on hand as Bob Chapek, chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, revealed plans for the Disney Skyliner to the audience.

According to Chapek, the transportation system will connect Disney's Hollywood Studios and Epcot to four Disney World resorts, including Disney's Pop Century, Disney's Art of Animation, Disney's Caribbean Beach Resort, and a new resort called Disney Riviera. The resort is planned to open in fall 2019.

Artwork for the gondola cars suggests they'll be in an assortment of colors, including red, green, orange, blue, yellow, and purple.

Concept art released in July 2017 for the planned Disney Skyliner. Courtesy Walt Disney World

Concept art hanging outside Disney's Hollywood Studios shows how the transportation layout between the parks and resorts will look.

Those staying at any of these four hotels, will have another mode of transportation to access Toy Story Land and Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge. Kirsten Acuna/INSIDER

Construction is currently ongoing at Hollywood Studios, Epcot, and several resorts

You can't miss the construction when you enter Hollywood Studios. It's right in the parking lot.

The bus pickup to head to other areas and Disney theme parks at Hollywood Studios is currently in eyesight of where the future gondolas will travel. Kirsten Acuna/INSIDER A view of the construction at Disney's Hollywood Studios at the start of July. Kirsten Acuna/INSIDER

A station area for the gondola is under construction near the park's entrance. It's not far from where you board one of the Friendship boats at the park to head to Epcot or the boardwalk.

While on a Friendship boat leaving or approaching Disney's Hollywood Studios, you can see construction on the Disney Skyliner station. Kirsten Acuna/INSIDER

At Epcot, it looks like the Skyliner loading dock will be located at the international gateway, where guests can leave Epcot to walk to resorts and the boardwalk or load onto a Friendship boat to travel on the water around Epcot or to Hollywood Studios.

On the map, that's here:

Construction can be seen at Epcot at the International Gateway near France. Disney Parks/Google

But don't worry. It doesn't look like the Friendship boats will be going anywhere. When I was visiting, it looked like they may keep the Friendship boat station set up right next to another one for the new gondolas.

This is the view from the Friendship boat when you board in Epcot. Kirsten Acuna/INSIDER

This is not Disney's first attempt at a skyrail system

There have been three previous skyrail systems at Disney parks across the world.

California's Disneyland had the park's first gondola lifts starting in 1956, which allowed for travel between Fantasyland and Tomorrowland. Similar to the new Skyliner project, it was called Skyway. That gondola lift had open carts and traveled through the Matterhorn ride. It closed in 1994 due to structural issues that would have forced the park to close the Matterhorn Bobsleds.

According to photos and video from the Orange County Register, Disneyland's Skyway terminal at Fantasyland was demolished in 2016 to make way for a new "Star Wars" section of the park called Galaxy's Edge.

Walt Disney World also had skyrail system in place when the park opened in Florida in 1971. It also allowed guests to travel between Fantasyland and Tomorrowland. It closed in 1999. At the time, a Disney spokesperson said it wasn't a matter of safety, but rather because the ride was becoming old and they wanted to replace it with something new.

"It's part of our ongoing efforts to phase out some of the older attractions and introduce new things to keep our parks exciting for our new and repeat visitors," Walt Disney World spokesperson Diane Ledder said, according to the Orlando Sentinel. "It's just something whose time has come."

Disney's Tokyo park also had gondola lifts. Unlike its American counterparts, the cars there had windows to prevent accidents. The ride closed in 1998.

There is no set date for the opening

Here's another view of where the Skyliner will depart from and land in Disney's Hollywood Studios. Kirsten Acuna/INSIDER

INSIDER was told Disney Parks has not released a timeline for the Skyliner opening. But we bet the parks are hoping to coordinate the opening of the new transportation system with the debut of Hollywood Studios' new "Star Wars" section of the park.